Dragonlord

Ep 137. I Did? (5)

Crash!

“…”

“Screeeee!”

“……”

“Over here! Arrows!”

“…Mnghh…”

Stirring awake, Light rubbed her eyes whilst her ears twitched to the incoherent noises. Distant yells and curses were echoing throughout the cabin, some of which didn’t sound all that far away.

As the half girl arose, Ilias also slowly opened her eyes, feeling the weight on her tail suddenly disappear. The youngling shook herself awake, looking around in a daze.

“Light…? What’s wrong?”

“…Do you hear that?”

“Mm?”

As Ilias also turned towards the direction of the noise, the red dragon began to pick up on rather familiar sounds. People were shouting, metals were clashing – and inhuman things were screeching.

“Oh…that’s new. You don’t hear those things often in cities. Then again, I guess we’re not really in a city…”

“People are fighting, right? Shouldn’t we go help?”

“Mm…they’re fighting, yeah. But they probably don’t need our help. We can still go see what’s going on though!”

“Huh?”

While the half girl blinked in confusion, Ilias briskly rose to her feet, stretching the soreness away from her body. After grabbing hold of her sister’s hand, the youngling pulled Light along as usual.

“C’mon! The early wyrm gets the bird!”

“…Isn’t that backwards?”

“Huh? Uh…don’t think so?”

Worm. Wyrm. Close enough.

Probably.

✧ ✧ ✧

“Sheesh, piss off! Whatever did I do to you pests?!”

“You do reek of blood, child.”

“I can’t do anything about that! Besides, I’m made of iron, that’s how I usually smell anyways!”

“…Fair point.”

Serenis sat upon a snow-covered boulder by the cavern’s entrance, observing the horde surrounding Raizel with an amused look. Her morning visit had turned out to be quite the entertaining show.

Wolves and bears of all shapes and sizes had gathered overnight in front of the youngling’s temporary lair, banding together to drive away the foreign beast that had invaded their territory – and hopefully steal away the source of the bloody scent that their invader reeked of. The dragonlord even felt sorry for the family of bears that seemed to have lost their homes overnight.

Unfortunately, the beasts’ claws and fangs posed little threat against the yawning metal dragon. While their attacks failed to even chip away Raizel’s skin, every retaliating strike sent another beast to oblivion.

‘…Such is the law of the wild.’

Eventually, the cunning few began to realize how hopeless it was to challenge the metal dragon before them. With fear spreading like wildfire amongst the horde, it wasn’t long until the first few wolves began to flee. The rest were quick to follow thereafter.

Raizel snorted in a mix of annoyance and triumph. She scraped her bloodied foot against the snow, picking up one of the wolves she’d killed.

“Ugh, talk about a wake-up call. I’m not even hungry right now…Lord, do you want these?”

“Let’s bring them down. I’m sure Chell’s villagers would make better use of them than us.”

As Raizel began to gather the dead animals, Serenis briefly spared a glance towards the trampled snow. Trails of animal footprints led downhill, attesting to all the beasts that had fled the scene.

“…”

For a moment, Serenis wondered if it was worth following them.

Chell was just down the snowy hillside – if the horde of beasts had decided to attack the small settlement instead, then given the settlement’s lackluster defense, it could be a source of danger.

And, above all, one of the beasts had been carrying a strange, concerning level of mana.

‘…But they’re just animals. And Ilias is down there anyhow.’

A meager beast couldn’t hope to defeat a grown dragon. It’d be a miracle if the beasts could even break through the barricade of Asarda’s warriors.

…Right?

✧ ✧ ✧

“What the…where did all these wolves come from?! Even bears are in the mix!”

“The feast must’ve drawn them overnight. Good riddance, winter’s just around the corner anyhow! Quick, prepare the arrows!”

Chell’s warriors busily moved about, waking each other to supply the settlement’s rear entrance with weapons. A volley of arrows rained from above, shooting down the beasts that were raking their claws at the sealed gates.

But as the horde’s number dwindled, a snarling black bear stepped forth amidst the wolves. Its body was as large as the rear gate itself, and even on all fours the beast stood taller than Asarda’s most accomplished warriors.

With thudding steps, the bear then charged forth to throw itself onto the gate.

“Keep firing! Stop her!”

“The arrows aren’t getting through!”

Crash!

Ignoring the volley of arrows buried in its hide, the bear slammed into the gate, knocking it down with a single charge. A bellowing roar echoed throughout the settlement’s premise, and the archers grit their teeth as the beast entered their stronghold. Several children yelped in terror and fled from the vicinity, while more soldiers rushed to the rear gate to take their place.

“Don’t let her in any further!”

“Grahh!”

Several warriors surrounded the giant bear, brandishing their clubs and axes against the snarling beast. Others busily handled the smaller beasts that began pouring in through the broken gate, hacking and shooting without cease.

…Meanwhile, a pair of guests casually approached the scene. While one hid behind the other, the other’s eyes were sparkling in awe and interest.

“Woah, Light, look! The bear’s almost as big as our cabin! Are all bears that big around here?”

“…Ilias, I don’t think that’s important right now…”

“Hmm…”

Ilias watched the warriors a few moments longer. It was considered bad manners to interrupt someone else’s hunt amongst dragons, and she considered applying the same rule in this instance.

But when the snarling bear’s forearm violently smashed into a heaving warrior to knock him out cold, the red dragon belatedly concluded that this wasn’t a mere ‘hunt’ for the Asardans.

“…Looks like you’re right. Time to earn our breakfast!”

As soon as Ilias finished her sentence, the youngling launched herself towards the snarling beast.

Not long afterwards, the people’s perception of Ilias would change from ‘strong lass’ to ‘literal monster.’

✧ ✧ ✧

Chell’s warriors blankly stared from a distance. Flames blazed past their eyes, and fresh blood spilt onto the snow beneath their feet.

Bone-crunching sounds caused a few of them to twist their expressions in disgust. Even those that had initially been cheering for the purple-haired lass had died down from the one-sided battle; in fact, what they were seeing wasn’t so much a battle, but closer to a predator hunting prey.

Finally, one of them warriors hesitantly approached the half girl at their side, clearing his throat before prompting her.

“Ahem. Light…was it?”

“Huh? Can I help you?”

“Does your…friend…do this often?”

“You mean Ilias? What about her?”

“Breathe fire, I mean.”

“…Uh…”

As far as Light was concerned, a red dragon breathing fire was perfectly natural. In fact, most people would agree that there was nothing to be surprised about.

But as far as the Asardans were concerned, Ilias was just a peculiar-looking half. A peculiar-looking half that had horns, two wings, a tail, inexplicable strength and…apparently an inflammable throat.

So, instead of explaining the entire concept of dragons to the warrior, Light opted for a much, much simpler explanation: one that wasn’t necessarily true.

“She’s, um…oh, you know how Aymeia can summon fire? Ilias is the same.”

“Aha, as expected of Lady Aymeia’s retainers! So all of you can breathe fire!”

“Uh…sure.”

Was she lying? Yes.

Was she worried about being found out? Not really.

Before their weird conversation could proceed any further, the bear collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud. Splatters of snow put out the embers blazing on its hide, leaving a motionless, smoking beast in the middle of Chell.

“There! Easy-peasy!”

After defeating her largest foe, Ilias then turned towards the hordes of smaller beasts that were still flooding the gate. She audibly growled while faking a vicious expression, forcing the wolves to slowly retreat in fear.

When the youngling loudly stomped her foot onto the snow, the wolves yelped in unison, fleeing out the broken gates.

As the attacking horde left their settlement, Chell’s warriors began to loosen in tension. Many let out triumphant battle cries, rejoicing in the hunt’s successful outcome.

But Light alone remained alert, narrowing her eyes over the fallen bear. Even when Ilias turned towards her to celebrate victory, the half girl didn’t even register her sister’s voice.

Instead, Light’s eyes were fixed on the thin black strand poking out of the bear’s fallen corpse.

‘…What is that?’

The black strand wriggled left and right, its length stretching further and further as the whole piece slithered out of the bear’s smoking body. Its figure then trickled down into the snow beneath, burying away into the depths of white.

Soon after, a thin trail of rippling snow raced across Chell’s floors in silence – straight towards an oblivious boy that had been watching the fight from afar.

“Wait, look out…!”

“…?”

As Light called out in desperation, the boy momentarily glanced towards the shouting half girl.

But before she could get another word out, the snow beneath the boy’s feet exploded upwards to reveal a long, pitch-black creature. Standing just at about a grown man’s height, it was too big for a worm, and too thin for a snake – but it was nevertheless alive, screeching through its open, gaping mouth.

The boy immediately fell backwards, trembling in fear of the screeching creature. The boy clenched his eyes shut, fearing the worst as the black strand lunged towards him.

But before the creature’s gaping maw would reach the boy, a sudden warmth instead enveloped his figure.

When he opened his eyes after a few seconds, the black creature was being held by a blazing grip around its throat, wriggling helplessly in the air. Strands of orange hair danced about the blaze surrounding them while the figure’s concerned voice called out to the boy behind her.

“Are you alright?”

“…Um…um…uhm…”

At first, the boy didn’t know what to be scared of more – a giant black tapeworm, or walls of fire that had encased him whole.

But when his eyes met the figure’s worried gaze, a surge of relief washed the boy’s worries away.

These flames weren’t going to hurt him. Ever.